To provide a new planarly asymmetric bipyridine compound, to provide a method for producing the compound, to provide a new metal complex given by using the planarly asymmetric bipyridine compound as a ligand, and to provide a method for producing an optically active compound using a new asymmetric catalyst.

This planarly asymmetric bipyridine compound has a 2,2'-bipyridine ring and a planarly asymmetric crosslinked alkylene group over at least one of the pyridine rings composing the bipyridine ring and is expressed by formula (I) or formula (II). Further, the method for producing the compound, the new metal complex given by using the planarly asymmetric bipyridine compound as the ligand, and the method for producing the optically active compound using the new asymmetric catalyst are provided, respectively.